I Miss You Mum
by missjabbjabb
Summary: Lin is remembering the night her mother died, she remembers how much she loved Tenzin, and the pain she feels when she looks up at the statue in her mothers honour. She is strong though, reminding her everyday that she is her mothers daughter


Lin looked up at the statue of her mother, she missed her so much. She remembered all the earth bending lessons her mother used to give her, and how it always came so naturally to her, it helped that your mother is the greatest Earth Bender in the world. She remembered her mother telling her how much she loved her and if anything happened to her she wanted her to take her place as chief of police. Lin was seventeen when her mother told her that, she just didn't realise things would happen to her so soon

Lin looked at the statue in honour of her mother; Toph grew up to be a beautiful woman. She always remembered being envious of her mother, her hair was so thick and black; her eyes were foggy, but beautiful none the less. People always told Lin she looked like her mother; they always said she had the same attitude as her as well

She let out a sigh as she stared at it; she then saw bright robes approaching her

"What do you want?" Lin snapped, she was not in a good mood today

"Hello to you to Lin, and if you must know I came to talk to you" he said, always calm

"I'm fine Tenzin, why wouldn't I be?" She said, her arms were crossed over her metal bending uniform

Tenzin then looked at her with a worried look on his face; she knew what he was talking about. That's why she had been out here in the first place. Today was the day her mother had died, Lin was seventeen when her mum died, she and Tenzin were a couple when it happened, and she remembered everything to this day

She was at her home, practicing her Metal Bending; she had already mastered Earth Bending. Lin had big pale green eyes and long thick black hair, she had the same shaped face as her mother, Lin was very beautiful

"Good Lin, you're getting better at this every day" Her mother smiled at her, wearing her uniform, Lin turned to look at her standing in the door way, her mother smiling widely at her. Lin placed her hands on her hips

"Thanks mum, are you going back to work?" she asked

"Yeah sweetie, there was another incident, Aang and Katara invited you to Air temple island for dinner while I'm gone, Tenzin will be there" her mother laughing

"Mum!" She laughed; her mother threw her hands up laughing

"What I'm just saying, anyway I will be back by eleven, something tells me it's going to be a long night"

Lin ran up to her mother and gave her a hug

"Be careful mum, I love you"

"I love you to Lin; I'll come by Air Temple Island once I'm done OK? I'm sure they will let you stay while I'm gone" She squeezed her daughter tightly and then walked out the door; Lin was filthy so she quickly had a shower and changed into her casual clothes and out the door. She hated it when her mum went out on late jobs, she knew if anyone could take care of herself it was her mum, but she still worried about her.

She arrived at the docs and the ship was waiting for her with Tenzin on it

"Tenzin!" she yelled running and jumping into his arms, kissing him

Tenzin was very handsome, he looked like his father, his grey eyes ate into her soul sometimes, he was only a year older than her, but he was about twenty times more mature than her sometimes. He squeezed her tightly

"Lin! I missed you, c'mon mum has put on a nice dinner tonight, your favourite" he looked down and smiled at her, she was so beautiful Tenzin had a hard time not looking sometimes. When they arrived she ran up to Katara giving her a hug

"It's good to see you Lin" she said as she grabbed her arm and pulled her inside

"I made your favourite, Toph will come by later I hope?" She asked, she and Toph were like sisters now, Lin had known Tenzin's family for all her life, they were her family. Aang was like a father to her and Kya and Bumi, well they were hard to handle but she loved them none the less.

"That's what she told me Aunt Katara" she smiled walking in and seeing Aang in the kitchen

"Lin!" he yelled running over to her scooping her up in a big hug, they hadn't seen each other in a while, he was always busy with Avatar stuff, and Lin was now learning how to use her new Metal bending suit , they had been pretty flat out

"Uncle Aang!" she yelled hugging him back

"Look how pretty you have gotten, I remember your mum at this age" he laughed, Katara giggled to

"I thought you would have gone with her?" she asked

"No, she insisted I stayed here. She said it was nothing major, just some stuff she needed to take care of" he smiled

"Oh, OK"

Tenzin looked over to Lin; he knew she worried about her mother. He grabbed her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze, she was grateful to have him

"Anyway, Katara made your favourite dinner, and Kya and Bumi will be back soon, how about we go outside and do some Earth Bending?"

She smiled

"I thought you'd never ask" She smirked

Aang and Lin went outside and began, Tenzin watched, Kya and Bum finally made it home and they loved watching Lin bend, being the daughter of the Earth Bending prodigy and the inventor of metal bending was a title she wanted to live up to, especially since she was an Earth Bender. She wanted to make her own imprint

"GO LIN!" Bumi screamed, waving his hands in the air, Tenzin looked over at Bumi and rolled his eyes, Tenzin found it interesting how good Lin was for someone of such a young age, earth bending required a lot of strength, but he knew Lin was strong.

Aang sent the first boulder flying at Lin, she made a barrier between the two smiling as she done so, she then in one swift moment kicked one side of her boulder at Aang and then jumped over the second side hitting the ground hard creating a large wave of Earth

Wow this girl was good, Aang fell but quickly got back up, and he smiled at her and turned to his kids

"Just like her mother"

They all laughed, Lin did to. The round continued on for another ten minutes or so, until the final blow that Lin did sent Aang flying, he created an air scooter under his feet so he wouldn't go any further

"I win" she laughed

"Wow Lin, you are really good!" Bumi said walking up to her and giving her a hug, he and her were like brother and sister

"Thanks Bumi, I guess I'm alright" she said going red

This time Tenzin stepped in

"No Lin you are amazing" he smiled at her, she blushed even harder now.

After they had finished they walked inside for dinner, they asked Lin about her earth bending and when she passed her final test, Lin had technically become a master ages ago, but there was always new things to be learning, Aang then spoke

"So Lin you're learning how to metal bend now?"

She nodded, trying to swallow her food so she could talk

"Yes, it's really great, mum has been teaching me and a lot of the guys at the station help me out with it whenever I'm there. It's a lot harder than it looks, I take my hats off to them" she laughed, as did everyone else, for a seventeen year old Lin was really advanced in her bending, it surprised even Aang.

"Katara the food is great, thanks for taking me in tonight" she smiled

"Lin don't be silly, you're always welcomed here" she smiled, after she had finished her sentence the phone rang, Katara walked up and answered it, She then walked over to Aang and told him it was for him.

"Kya, Bumi help me clean up" Katara said in a motherly tone

"But mum…" they both argued in unison, she gave them a look and they both complied, Lin picked up her plate walking to the sink and Katara, walked up to her and took it from her

"Lin! Stop being such a good child, you're making mine look like pests!" she joked

"Sorry" she giggled and then Tenzin took her hand and led her out side

"Mum! How come Tenzin gets to go outside?" Bumi yelled

Katara then bent some water and lightly hit him on the back of the head; he complied with his mother's wishes. Tenzin led Lin outside still holding her hand, he looked over to her, her features were strained

"Lin your mum will be fine" he knew just how to read her

"I know, she has just had a lot of these jobs lately, I miss her" she said and looked up at Tenzin, he was staring at her admiring his girlfriend

"What? Do I have something on my face?" She started wiping her face; he laughed and then grabbed both of her hands. He was taller than her so he looked down to her

"No, you are so beautiful Lin and I'm so lucky to have you" She smile and kissed him, it was romantic and heavy, Tenzin pulled her waist into him and she wrapped her arms around his neck. It was perfect, she finally broke free

"What's wrong?"

"Your dads coming" she said, she could tell he was coming from the way he walked, he was light on his toes, her mother called him twinkle toe's and when Lin learned seismic sense she figured out why.

"Lin, Tenzin, we need to go to the hospital" Aang said walking over to Lin and putting his hand on her shoulder

"What? Why?" Lin asked, she was very confused now

"Lin, it's your mother" Tears welled up in her eyes, Aang loved Toph, he was pained as well saying this to her

Lin was speechless how could her mother be hurt?

"But my mum is Toph BeiFong, she can't be…"

Aang looked at Tenzin, and he pulled Lin towards the stables where he kept his sky Bison, Lin didn't really say much the whole trip, Aang followed behind on Appa along with the rest of his family. When the finally arrived Lin practically jumped of Oogie and ran inside, her mum's officers were all inside the waiting room, she looked at them, her eyes wide, most of them had sad expressions on there faces. She wanted to know what was going on, she ran up to the lady at the front desk

"Toph BeiFong Chief of Police, where is she?"

"Room 32"

Tenzin then ran in and stood beside Lin, but before he got the chance to say anything she was running towards her mother's room, she could have used seismic sense to find her but she was so worried she didn't even think of it at the time.

Tenzin quickly followed behind her moving past any one to get to his girlfriend, when she finally reached the room, she ran in, she froze when she saw her mother.

"M-Mum?" Lin whispered as the tears started to fall, she walked over to her mother. She was no longer wearing her suit, she was in a hospital gown now, her mother's beautiful face was cover in cuts and bruises and her hair was now sprawled down past her shoulders at its full length, her hair looked dirty and knotty from all the blood and dirt that was in it, she looked down to her mother's arms, they were just as bruised and as cut as her mother's face, she didn't even want to know what the rest of her mother's body looked like.

She then turned around to see Toph's uniform, it was mainly stained red around the abdomen area. Lin fell to her knees and started crying. She clutched her mum's uniform and cried into it, Tenzin came through the door and looked at Lin, she looked back up at him her eyes tear filled, he sat down next to her and pulled her in close to him. She then let go of her mother's uniform and clung to him, crying in his chest

She couldn't lose her mum, her mum is Toph BeiFong! How could anyone have bet her, she was the best Earth Bender on the face of the earth, no one could beat her.

"Tenzin what am I going to do?" she cried

He didn't know what to say, he had never had a bad family moment in his life, Lin didn't know her dad, and her mum was the only family she had. Tenzin also cared for Toph, as did all his family, the doctors told him before he went into the room that Toph's wounds were bad and they didn't know if she would survive the night.

"You're going to come back to Air Temple Island and you're going to stay with us for a while" he said his words calm

"I love you Lin" he whispered in her ear, this made her cry harder, she couldn't believe this had happened to her mum, to her. Lin never asked for much, she was a good kid, why was this happening to her. Tenzin then lifted her in his arms and carried her over to her mum, he told Lin what the doctors had told him, that night she lied with her mother. The last thing she said to her was that she loved her. Aang and Katara came into see her, they cried just as Lin had. Tenzin was still in the waiting room, he slept there waiting for Lin. That night Toph BeiFong died in her sleep, with her daughter by her side.

At the funeral so many people talked to Lin pouring out apologies, Sokka ran up to Lin and squeezed her so tight she struggled for air. He and Toph were close, he loved her, he felt terrible because he wasn't there when she passed. Lin assured him that her mother did not die in vain. She didn't fully understand what had happened to her mother, no one would tell her anything. Then to her surprise, she saw Fire Lord Zuko, everyone bowed to him, even Lin

"Lin, I'm so sorry, your mother was a dear friend of mine she will be missed greatly" He said with a sad expression, he then hugged her and she didn't hesitate to hug her back, she had met Zuko several times and she liked him a lot. He was down to earth even though he was the Fire Lord, she liked that about him.

After a big public funeral for the great Toph BeiFong, Lin sat there looking at the statue they placed there that day, she remembered her promise that she made to her mother. Tenzin grabbed her hand and took her back to Air Temple Island; she didn't say much, either did anyone else.

"Lin may I speak with you, there is someone here to see you" Aang spoke and she stood up and walked out the door towards Aang, she didn't quite recognise the person who was next, she walked out to the court yard, her mum once told her she loved this place.

"Lin, one of your mothers request was before she passed away was that if anything should happen to her, you would become chief of Police, this is Chen, he was your mothers second in command. He was on the mission with her" Aang's voice was sad now

"I'm sorry for your loss, I respected your mother, she was a good co-worker and friend. I was there when everything went wrong. She left this note for you in case something ever happened to her." He then handed Lin the note, she then opened the letter, her mum couldn't write, but this was Sokka's writing

"He wrote this for her, but it was all her words I assure you" he said

She looked down at the note and started reading

_My little bandit,  
You have turned into a beautiful young woman, and I'm so proud of you. You have always treated your Earth Bending as gift and not a right, and now with the skill of metal bending in your grasp I know you can do what I'm asking of you. I once asked you if anything happened to me, I want you to take my place as Chief of Police. This note is giving you the right to take my place, everything you will need will be in your hands. My metal benders will be loyal to you, and they will serve under you and Chen has already agreed to this so getting past the council won't be a problem. Lin I know you can do this, if you're reading this then something bad has happened to me, know that I love you and that you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I love you Lin, I always will._

_Love your Mother, Chief of Police, Toph BeiFong_

Lin just stared at the note and looked at Chen, tears in her eyes, then she looked at Aang

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to Lin"

"How did you know about this Aang?"

"Toph and I had discussed this several times, come I want to show you something" he said leading her to a small room on Air-Temple Island, Chen following. When he opened the closet a metal Bending suit was there

"Your mother made this for you, it is made out of some of the strongest metals on the planet, your mum also wanted me to give you this" he said picking up a small box, when she opened it, her mother's Earth Bending gear from her battles as a child was there. Aang smiled when he saw them,

"She would never let me wear these, I remember asking and she would just throw me somewhere with her Earth Bending" he smiled, a small tear rolling down his face

Lin smiled thinking about her mum doing something like that, she then looked at Chen

"I will accept, but I still want you to be second in charge, my mother trusted you, so as do I" she said sounding far wiser beyond her years, he smiled at her

"Of Course Chief BeiFong"

Later that week Lin was made the official Chief of Police after some formalities about her age, but every one of Toph's friends stepped in and said that she was the person for the job. Fire Lord Zuko made sure Lin was the Chief of Police; he held a lot of power.

After she was publicly made Chief of Police, Tenzin ran up to her and swooped her up in his arms, he then made a tornado under his feet and lifted her up and kissed her. She loved him so much, the air was blowing through her long black hair and Tenzin's hairless head and face just looked at her in awe.

"I love you Lin"

"I love you Tenzin"

Lin missed her mother every single day, and even now she still hurt every time she thought about it.

She looked at Tenzin, who was now different from the memory she just had,

"I'm fine Tenzin" Lin spoke; she was now back in her own body, her short hair, and old suit that her mother had made for her all those years ago.

He smiled at her and hugged her, she froze for a minute but then hugged him back, it felt so good to be back in his arms, and she felt seventeen again. When he let go of her she looked back at her mother, strong Toph BeiFong, she smiled a small tear falling down her face,

"I love you mum"


End file.
